Square One
by jenthetrulysly
Summary: Danny's life is forever changed after a cruel act of vengeance. Will he have the strength and courage to overcome the odds, or are all of the ohana's efforts for nothing and they are all back to square one?
1. Chapter 1

**AN - mahalo to the fantabulous traw for putting up with my ranting and ramblings, and for making this story awesome. A gift for all of the readers who have been supporting me over the past few months here, drop me a review if you liked it/want more :)**

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Pulling the Camaro into his usual parking spot, Detective Danny Williams got out of the silver sedan and slammed the door shut, locking the vehicle with a press of the button on his car key. There were plenty of other places the cop could have been at this hour but he wanted to get a head start on the large amount of paperwork left over from the past two weeks, which had been an unusually busy period of time for the _ohana _publicity wise.

For starters, they had caught the guy who wanted to supersede Sang Min's position as the biggest snakehead on the Islands in a bust which ended spectacularly when Steve had tackled the perp down by the docks, the momentum causing the two grown men to roll off the side of the pier. Some nosy reporter had managed to capture the exact moment when McGarrett had one fist planted firmly against the man's cheek as they half-dangled off the edge.

Moving on, a wealthy socialite had tried to kill her wealthy husband during sex by "accidental" asphyxiation. Jameson had personally requested Five-0 to handle the investigation into the attempted murder as the husband was one of her main benefactors. The Governor wanted the task force to play the elements of the crime to maximize the hurt victim angle.

His sigh was huge and audible as he reached the front steps and began to slowly climb them.

x-x-x-x-x-x-x

"Brah, ya know dat if 'dis goes pear-shaped da shit's gonna hit da fan." The Hawaiian man mumbled anxiously as his beady brown eyes took in the tranquility of the Iolani Palace at this time of morning. Despite every inclination that it was going to be yet another pristine, cloudless day, there was the chance that this was going to turn out into the worst day for Harry Kaimuki possible. He brought a thick hand to wipe at the beads of sweat on his head. "If dat source of ya's-"

"My source is always right." His Japanese companion Hiroyuki Okina cut across as he drummed his hands on the steering wheel of the van in an attempt to control his nervousness. They were parked in a spot just outside the Palace along the street, blending in innocuously with the other cars. Apprehension ate at his gut because there was so many ways that this could go wrong. He had so much riding on the success of this operation. "Relax, Harry. Everything's going to be alright."

Swallowing past the lump in his throat, Harry leaned out of his seat and pressed his fingers against the line of window glass before checking his watch. It was 7.23am. "Ya might be right dere. Shit, when is da fucking haole gonna turn up?"

x-x-x-x-x-x-x

Danny arrived at the office early to try and think of an approach to mollify the Governor and finish the rest of that report on the snakehead file. If he didn't get a start on these tasks they were never going to get done. Kono and Steve balked at the mention of "that forbidden p word" and vehemently asserted that the paperwork should be left to the professional yesterday before leaving the office.

"_Guys, I would like, really appreciate it if you could just write these out-" Danny had started after managing to cage the two frightened animals in the corner where the water cooler was. _

"_Nah brah. No one's better than you with the words." Kono had replied, breezily moving to the side to make the great escape. However she was thwarted when Danny raised his hand blocking her egress. _

"_Just do what you usually do and sign my name on the dotted line," Steve shrugged with a nonchalance that somehow got under the ex-Jersey native's skin. _

_Pinching the bridge of his nose to try and stave off the oncoming migraine, Danny took a deep breath and continued in a forced even tone as he flicked his clear blue eyes to his partner. Arching an eyebrow, he groaned, "Steven, I am going to pretend that you never said that, because that, my friend, is not what cops do. But then again cops don't dangle people off roofs nor do they thrown them in shark cages. They broke the mold with you."_

"_He's Navy," Chin interjected as he walked out from – somewhere. Danny had not been paying attention to anything else except the two mischievous children in front of him and keeping their attention span on him beyond three seconds. "He's not schooled in the ways of you and I."_

"_It's never too late to make a start," the shorter detective stated meaningfully as he directed his gaze over the rookie and the Commander. "Besides, paperwork-"_

"_There is that word again." Kono winced before suddenly falling back against the wall behind her, raising a hand to cover her eyes. "I don't think I even know what that means."_

"_Just do a squiggle, Jameson will never know." Steve added quite seriously. _

"_You can't teach an old dog new tricks, brah." Chin smirked, ignoring the blonde man's scoffing. "Come on, it's time to knock off anyway. It's five o'clock." _

"_So I can write what I want in these reports?" the blonde haired man mock-clarified, allowing a pensive expression to settle on his face. "So I can say that Steve tickled the daylights out this perp and the momentum caused the two grown men to tumble into the large pool of chocolate waiting below." He grinned at McGarrett, who was now staring at him as if he'd grown another head. _

"_Maybe I better just double check what you write." The Lt Commander confirmed, surprised when his partner shook his head. _

_Too easy! Danny thought as he took a step closer to McGarrett, resisting the impulse to poke him squarely in the chest. "No, if you trust me enough to write the thing for you in the first place, you should trust my attention to details. I always make sure to write down everything is as much detail as I can in these reports."_

_Clearly recognizing this as another of their work colleagues' platonic carguments sans the car, Chin and Kono shook their heads as they headed for the door, muttering beneath their breath about how the Navy SEAL and his partner should just get it out of their systems already. Danny was more focused on the fact that he had Steve somewhat interested in paperwork and missed their exit. If Captain America could cross that final frontier then there was hope for all of them._

"_It's too late," Danny added, before grinning. "Once that squiggle goes on the line-" he paused to make a dramatic, sweeping hand gesture. "That's it. It's official and nothing can be done. Though of course, it'd be totally different if you were to - I don't know, try writing them yourself." _

The blaring of a car horn on the road outside the Palace gates snapped him out of reliving that daydream and he walked up the steps, a little spring in his step as he climbed the dark koa wood stairs. He had to swing by the District Attorney's office later in the afternoon to discuss the specifics of Iortchenko's – the socialite's – case. There had been discussion of getting a gag order on the press to stop them tampering with the jury pool and to stop the trial by media of the woman, who they had taken to nicknaming "Lady Fingers." If he could finish these two things then he could go home a little early and get things ready for the weekend with the light of his life – Gracie.

There were no lights on in the office when he finally reached the landing. This meant that McGarrett had not arrived yet, despite the taller man's rather emphatic assurances that he would. Danny sighed as he realized that he had drawn the short stick again as he pushed the key into the lock, opening the front glass door with a click. Stepping inside, he reached out for the light switch and flicked it on, bathing the space in bright light. He briskly walked past the main space where the computer table was to head down the long corridor towards his office. He took a deep breath, savoring the quietness that he knew was not going to last. As soon as the master of chaos and his fanatical disciple arrived, the peace and quiet would quickly become a thing of the past.

If he was being honest with himself, he was looking forward to preparing a cool and rational argument to present to the District Attorney on why they needed a blanket gag order on the media to let Natalia Iortchenko. His bum knee had been acting up again lately following a rather spirited chase along the pier where he ended up landing hard on that knee and jarring it. Every time he looked down at it the large, purple bruise was a constant reminder of the fact that he was not obeying the doctor's orders. Danny didn't need to use his cane but that was only through sheer refusal – he hated using the thing.

The physician had warned that Danny was going to totally destroy his ACL if he didn't take things easier on the job. The detective had tried to explain that the doctor's request just couldn't be done – he was for all intents and purposes stuck with the biggest walking, ticking time bomb on the islands. Trouble followed McGarrett like a magnet – in fact, Danny would not have been surprised if the man's middle name was not John, but was in fact some horribly pompous sounding word meaning trouble. Preferably in French. After a lot of finagling the tired and exasperated medical examiner had finally given him a prescription for some really strong anti-inflammatory tablets and told him to try and take it easy. The pills worked when they were taken but Danny didn't want to become dependent on them, he didn't want to come to rely on anyone, or anything.

A quiet morning in the office would do him some good. Entering his dark office, the detective switched on the light and moved to sit down at his desk. He placed the bag of fresh malasadas and strong cup of coffee on the corner of his desk that was not cluttered. Last night he had left the office suddenly and the paperwork from the Iortchenko case was still open, ready for him to continue. Danny seized the cup of coffee and took a sip, sighing in happiness at the rich flavor of the aromatic brew as he waited for the computer to start.

x-x-x-x-x-x-x

"You ready, brah? You know you only have one shot at this. Make it work."

"Yeah, I gotcha. In 'n out, like we discussed." Pressing the package closer to his chest, Harry opened the door of the van and stepped outside into the morning sunshine, making a straight beeline for the Iolani Palace steps.

Okina watched the Hawaiian man disappear into the darkness of the interior of the Palace, his thin lips pressed into a grim line and he waited – and prayed - for a successful outcome. If he could get to Danny Williams then everything would be smooth sailing from now on, and he could move up to the ranking of First Lieutenant within the Honolulu arm of the Yakuza. The snakehead would get the blame and the competition would be cut out.

x-x-x-x-x-x-x

Danny was contemplating the bizarre twenty minute gap between the emergency 911 call and the time that Max had given them as the official time of death, having just scribbled a note onto his writing pad when he heard the front door creak open before an unfamiliar male voice called out.

"Hello?"

"Anyone here?" the voice called out again, this time accompanied by louder footsteps.

"Coming!" Standing up, the detective rushed out of his office to greet the visitor. The quick movement caused a twinge in his knee, causing him to stop and rub the joint for a few moments before continuing down the journey. Mentally cursing his recalcitrant partner and the pills, the detective soon came face to face with a deliveryman waiting just inside the front door. He was wearing a FedEx uniform and carrying a parcel wrapped in brown paper that was about as big as an A4 sized book. "Hi, who's that for?"

"Hi!" The man greeted warmly, a smile stretching across his wrinkled features. The deliveryman, in his late forties/early fifties, looked down to the clipboard clutched tightly in his left hand before appearing to scan down the page. "Are you Detective Danny Williams?"

"I am," Danny replied, temporarily confused as to what the parcel could be. He had no memory of ordering anything online OR requesting it to be sent to the office. "Is that there for me?" The detective asked, eyeing the unobtrusive package tucked under the courier's right arm as he took a step closer.

"Yes, sir." The other man replied, before handing the parcel to Danny. The blonde haired man took the slightly heavy box and placed it on one of the wooden corners of the computer table. The courier then handed the detective a clipboard and a pen. "Sign here please." He requested, pointing a gnarled finger to the dotted line next to Danny's name.

The ex-Jersey cop signed as requested before handing the pen and clipboard back to the deliveryman. He was standing close enough to read the name sewn onto the front of the shirt – Harry. The fact that Danny wasn't able to recall either why or from whom would he receive a large parcel like this disturbed him. Something nagged at the back of his mind but he was unable to quantify exactly what it was. "First delivery of the day for you, eh Harry?" he asked jovially, trying to find out some more offhand information about the delivery.

"Yes, sir," Harry replied, before replacing the pen back into the clip at the top of the clipboard. "I have a lot of other deliveries to do across the Island today. By the end of the day I will have gone from Koko Head all the way to Hanauma Bay…have a good day today!" With that the Hawaiian man flashed Danny a warm smile before turning on his heel, leaving the offices.

The detective stood there for a few moments after the top of Harry's head could no longer be seen as the man had disappeared down the koa wood stairs. Turning around, Danny walked over to the table to pick up the package. He lifted it and held it against his ear, listening for the telltale _tick tick tick _that would signify a bomb. Feeling foolish, he lowered the package and shook his head, amused at his own paranoia. He tucked the wrapped cardboard box under his arm and walked back to his office, keen on performing a closer inspection of the parcel.

As soon as he crossed the threshold he closed the door behind himself firmly with a kick of his foot before crossing to his desk to throw the package onto his desk. Swiveling around to the other side, he reached out to turn his desk lamp on. Fluorescent brightness flooded onto his desk, causing the package to cast shadows along the smooth, dark wood. Danny pulled the package closer to him. As soon as he did, he let out the breath he didn't know he had had been holding when he saw Rachel's familiar cursive script spell out his name and the address of Five-0 Headquarters. Still, he wondered why Rachel would send him something. Their highly fractured relationship was still highly strung and they had merely just begun to be able to be civil to each other. It was not in her character to be this forthcoming with the olive branches, he knew better than anyone that when the woman wanted to hold a grudge no one could best her.

Danny pulled open his desk drawer to extract a pair of sharp scissors. Positioning the blade over the brown string, he carefully cut across the thin line, causing the knot to unravel. Slowly peeling the brown crinkly paper off, he was strongly reminded of _The Sound of Music _of all things as the wrapping yielded to reveal an ordinary, unassuming looking brown box sealed with some packing tape.

There was a sense of anticipation in the air as he hurriedly cut across the seal. The detective ran the edge of the scissors down the middle of the top of the box. Once the tape was cut, the blonde haired man moved to open the lid and that was the last thing he was going to remember for a very long time as he was blinded by an intense white light before everything when dark as he was engulfed in pain – it seared his arms, legs and face until he could no longer stand it as a loud explosion rocked the office and everything went black.


	2. Chapter 2

**AN - mahalo for everyones' kind words in the reviews and the people who have alerted and/or faved this story! I only hope that this update does not disappoint :)**

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Steve McGarrett was hiking up the slightly steep incline towards the lanai of his house when he heard his cell phone ring. Cursing, he pushed his sopping wet fringe out of his eyes as he increased his pace, jogging through the dry sand to the back of the house. Leaning his surfboard against the back shed, he ran up the steps and slid the glass door open before coming to a halting stop in front of the dining table. Seizing the device between his sand encrusted fingers he swiped the screen before he barked with a hint of annoyance as he tried to catch his breath. "McGarrett."

"Steve, Chin here." His Korean detective began. Something about his friend's tone gave cause for concern. It made the hairs on the back of his neck stand up. "There's been an explosion at the Palace-"

"I'm on my way, I'll be there in a few-"

"No, don't go to the Palace. You better head down to Queen's Hospital right away."

Feeling irritation nip at his ankles, Steve ran up the stairs and headed for his bedroom. He crossed the spacious room to the wardrobe and extracted a fresh singlet, shirt and pair of cargo pants before throwing them onto the bed. The dark haired man then pulled open the middle drawer to grab a fresh pair of underwear and a pair of socks. "What aren't you telling me, Chin?" he demanded exasperatedly into the phone tucked under his chin and against his shoulder.

The momentary hesitation from Chin made Steve stop in his tracks as he straightened up, pressing the cool glass of his iPhone closer to his ear in case he accidentally missed something.

After a lengthy pause, the detective cleared his throat before announcing in a softer, gentler voice. "It's Danny. He was in the office when the bomb went off."

McGarrett dropped the pair of socks in his hand as his fingers went numb. He couldn't hear past the sound of rushing blood pounding in his ears as his throat went dry. "Got it," he forced himself to answer mechanically as he moved to shrug into his singlet and put on the rest of his clothing. "I'll be there as soon as I can."

He didn't bother with combing his hair or shaving – as soon as he was moderately presentable the Navy SEAL jumped into his Silverado truck and put on the siren as he reversed out of the driveway, peeling down the street to join the main highway. He clenched his teeth and locked his eyes onto the road, weaving in and out of the sparse traffic as he tried to not let his imagination get away from him.

x-x-x-x-x-x

Chin and Kono stood in the waiting room, waiting for any sort of information as to Danny's condition. Kono had headed straight to the office from the beach with the sole intention of using the women's locker room showers to change when the explosion happened. The rookie cop had narrowly avoided the rain of sandstone, cement and glass as the top right hand corner of the Palace was engulfed in bright orange flames as dark clouds of smoke rose up into the early morning sky. She had ducked for cover behind her red Hyundai, which had been pelted with debris, smashing the windscreen and denting the metal of the car's body.

Beyond the door that led out into the hallway there was a flurry of activity as nurses, doctors and HPD officers crossed back and forth as gurneys laden with people injured in the explosion trundled towards the Operating Rooms.

In the mid-morning sunlight filtering through the window, Chin could see a small piece of white builder's plaster stuck to the thick strands of his cousin's hair as she turned her head to the hallway, biting her bottom lip. The Korean detective could tell that Kono was anxious – usually bursting with energy and zealousness, the fact that she was subdued spoke volumes as to her concern about Danny's condition. He moved to pluck the small piece of debris out of her hair, privately giving thanks for the fact that no harm had befallen her. His action caused her to direct her attention back onto him, and they regarded each other with solemn eyes.

"It's been half an hour, Chin." Kono stated as her eyes flicked to the clock. She blinked rapidly for a few seconds, appearing to try and control the fear and sadness that threatened to overwhelm her. "Half an hour, and we haven't heard anything about Danny yet."

"Danny's going to pull through." Chin reassured with an empty sense of confidence that he did not feel. From what Kono had told him and SWAT's preliminary reports, a bomb had been detonated in the Five-0 offices, causing the top floor to collapse onto the mezzanine below. It was a minor blessing that there weren't that many people in the Palace at the early hour but that didn't mean that no one was injured. Various HPD officers, Palace staff and some very unlucky tourists were caught up in the blast. All emergency resources had been directed to the Palace on a search and rescue mission amongst the rubble. Streams of injured civilians and law enforcement officers began to trickle into the various hospitals in Honolulu with Queen's Hospital being the focal point for all of the most seriously injured people.

Danny had been found within half an hour of the bomb blast in a critical condition before being rushed here. Chin had managed to catch a glimpse of his colleague before the unconscious man was wheeled straight into an operating room. From the glimpse that the Korean detective caught, Danny was still smoking when the door finally stopped swinging back and forth. After a brief chat with the EMTs who had brought him here, Chin's resolve began to crumble as the ashen faced medics recounted the perilous condition in which they had found Danny – the detective had been found with third degree burns to most of his body. They weren't able to do much for him then gently get him to the hospital as soon as they could. The burns required special first aid that they weren't able to administer. Horror flooded Chin when the medic had described how they weren't even able to see if Danny was still alive, there was no way for them to even check his pulse given the severity of the burns. The only thing they could do was get him to the hospital as soon as they could, which they had done. All they could do now was wait.

A dark chuckle stirred the Korean detective out of his thoughts as he flicked his eyes at Kono, who was looking at him with a delicate, pitying expression. "Don't lie. You're crap at it - I can always tell when you do. Besides, I was there on the scene, remember?"

The sounds of a skirmish and something colliding with metal caused the two cousins to gravitate towards the door before a familiar voice growled loudly. "WHERE IS HE?"

Chin and Kono emerged into the hallway just in time to see Hurricane McGarrett sweep onto the scene. The Navy SEAL was panting, furious anger and exertion staining his cheeks red as he tried to catch his breath. He had the countenance of a frenzied, panicked animal caged inside a box as they watched his eyes flicked around the crowded hallway before settling over the cousins. "Brah," Chin called out, before tilting his head towards the waiting room he and Kono had just stepped out from.

Steve was on them within a heartbeat. He followed the both of them to pause in front of a window overlooking the front hospital lawns. The dark haired man scoffed when he saw the scrum of reporters blocking the entrance to the hospital. The bulbs of their cameras flashed as they took pictures of the macabre conditions that the injured people had arrived in. He was disgusted at the lengths they were prepared to go to for a juicy story, disgusted with the readers who enjoyed reading about such a tragedy.

Fixing his laser-like hazel gaze onto the cousins before him, he demanded. "From the top. Tell me everything."

Unflinching under the intense steely gaze, Chin began his report. "A bomb blast went off in the Five-0 offices this morning at about 7.30am. The bomb blast blew out the top right hand corner of the Palace, causing the entire level to collapse onto the ground floor below. It's bedlam, Steve – scores of people – both civilians and HPD staff were caught up in the explosion. They are being carted to various hospitals all across Oahu. SWAT has been called in and a search and rescue mission is being carried out at the moment."

"I want the Palace and the surrounding area sealed off completely. Get HPD officers onto the scene to start questioning people." Steve ordered as he rubbed his chin, deep in thought. As an afterthought, he added. "I want you and Kono to go down there and head the questioning of all the witnesses who were there at the time of the blast – I want written statements from anyone and everyone who saw anything. Find out who was in the Palace at that time and if there was someone acting suspiciously around the grounds. Make sure no stone is left unturned!"

"On it Boss," Kono confirmed with a nod before clearing her voice, which had cracked with emotion at the end of the sentence before continuing in a more detached, professional tone. "As soon as we get a break we'll call you."

"In the meanwhile," McGarrett posed, his voice losing the angry edge as exhaustion seeped into it, leaving him weary. "Any news on Danny?"

"As soon as I arrived on the scene they found Danny." Chin replied, fixing his unwavering brown gaze onto his former-classmate. "Kono rode in the back of the ambulance with him, she can tell you more."

Picking up her cousin's cue, Kono began her detailed recount. When Steve took a step back he was able to see the bandages wrapped around her right arm and the dark bruise marring her left cheek that had been hidden behind the dark curtain of hair. "Danny was found almost immediately in the aftermath." She paused to take a deep breath as her eyes shone with unshed, barely repressed tears. "They…I…I watched them pick up what was left of him and transfer him to a gurney before I insisted on riding in the wagon with them. They cleaned my wounded and applied dressings to them all the while…all the while they could do nothing for Danny!" Hot tears trickled down the side of her face as she ducked her face to the side to wipe furiously at the tears at the corner of her eyes. "They cleaned my wounds while he just laid there on the gurney! They said that they had done all they could already! I so wished that they could do something – anything – to help him." She sobbed, before Steve gently encircled her in his arms. The rookie cop's sobs became louder and stronger the longer he held her, trying to give comfort in a way that words could not express yet being careful not to touch the thick bandages on her arm.

She slowly regained her composure, lifting her head from his shoulders. Wiping the tears away from her eyes, she forced herself to continue the report. Bleeding or not, she was still a cop and cops had to regain composure at all times, even if they were dying on the inside. "All they did was intubate him and start him on some sort of IV!" Her voice had risen to almost a screech by the end of the sentence as she heaved between sobs.

"Shhhh," McGarrett soothed as he rubbed soft circles onto the back of her shirt. "Deep breaths, Kono, easy. I'm sure they did all they could. Now that he's here, they are giving him all the help he needs."

"Please, Steve." She managed between harsh breaths as Chin handed her a tissue to wipe the tears off her face. "Please, as soon as you hear anything from the doctors about Danny's condition – will you let us know?"

"We need to be strong for Danny." Steve mumbled before flicking his gaze to the window and back. "We need to be strong and catch the people who did this to him, who dared to tear up our ohana!" Fury fuelled his speech as passion spilled over into his voice. "We need to remain strong and do our best for Danny, nothing less!"

"Got it," Chin replied with a meaningful nod. "As soon as anything breaks you'll be the first to hear about it." He turned to look at his cousin, who broke away from McGarrett and took a step back.

"Sorry, Steve." Kono mumbled with a self-deprecating laugh. "I guess I just got carried away a bit there. Crying won't help things any better."

McGarrett felt no small measure of pride at how well – given the circumstances – that Kono was handling things. Other than the whole affair with Sid, this was probably the first case Kono had to deal with where the crime hit close to home. Giving what he hoped passed as a small encouraging smile, he clapped her gently on the shoulder. "Good, remember – anything, you let me know," he confirmed one last time. "Now has anyone said anything when the doctor will come by to tell us more about Danny?"

"We know about as much as you do, Steve." Chin admitted sadly, tilting his head to the side in a gesture of apology. "They did promise though that as soon as they have any news regarding Danny's condition that they're going to come up and tell us."

"Where's Danny now?" The Lt. Commander asked, his eyes narrowing.

"He was rushed straight into surgery from the ambulance. I'm sorry, Steve, but that's really all we know," Chin replied as he moved to take his leave. "Come on, Kono. There's not much else we can do here."

Following her cousin, the female Five-0 officer nodded at McGarrett. "As soon as anything happens, call! We'll be busting a gut turning this rock inside out for anything that can help Danny."

The tall, dark haired man stood there for a few moments, watching the retreating backs of the Five-0 team, who over the past few months he had come to regard as his ohana. A part of him longed to be out on the streets, busting chops as he searched for anything – any sight, sound or whisper on the coconut wireless that might yield something about the events of the morning. Rage threatened to bubble over as he cracked his knuckles before he sighed in frustration. He longed to see just how far Jameson's "means" stretched as he searched for clues about the bomb blast. However, he was thoughtful enough to realize that someone had to be there when Danny woke up.

Countless times over the past few years had he awoken in both civilian and military hospitals, to the smell of antiseptic and sickness as the constant beeping of the life monitors reassured him that this was real, and not some horrific dream. Despite himself, one of the first things he had always done was flick his eyes over to the space next to the bed, where a chair was placed. Throughout the years he had awoken to the cramped and humid conditions in these hospitals, resolving himself to the fact that no one was going to come and see him. He had grown accustomed to it, had learned not to expect anything, right up until he had met Detective Danny Williams.

Like a storm, Danny had simply blown into his life and turned everything upside down, showing him a sense of friendship which he had yearned for and craved, yet been denied since childhood. Steve didn't understand why, but as he went to take a seat in one of the hard backed plastic chairs lining the walls of the waiting room, his thoughts turned to this memory, his very first connection with someone in years.

_He remembered waking up with a pounding headache, yet years of SEAL training had taught him to automatically take stock of his surroundings, of his physical condition and whether there were any threats in the immediate vicinity. The headache was overwhelming and he felt like someone had stuffed his head full of cotton. However, the sounds of beeping monitors, the smell of antiseptic and the scratchiness of the sheets told him he was in a hospital. The lack of bomb blasts and gunfire further indicated that it was a civilian one. _

_The next thing he noticed was that he was not alone. Immediately, he tried to sit up on the bed and opened his eyes to see who the mystery person was. He was very surprised – and confused – to see his new partner Danny sitting in the lone chair next to the bed, his eyes narrowed at a magazine lying open in his lap as he frowned. _

_Steve's movements were slower and heavier than what he usually preferred – it seemed like he also made a lot of noise – or maybe Danny just had very good hearing – but soon the detective's head lifted up and their eyes met. Flipping the magazine closed, McGarrett watched as Danny beamed at him. _

"_Goodness, do you make a habit of scaring the living daylights out of all your partners like this? Cut the crap, McGarrett, I don't put up with this kind of shit from anyone – you're no different." Despite the harshness of the words, Danny's tone belied a sense of fervored relief which intensified with each passing second. _

_Trying to understand just WHY the blonde haired man was here like this, Steve rasped. "What are you doing here, Danny?"_

"_I'm waiting for the Siberian Express to take me to Russia." he deadpanned, with a liberal helping of sass as he moved to stand up a little closer to the bed. "What do you think, I'm waiting for you to wake up! And now that you _are_ up, let me go and fetch a doctor, I'm sure they have some terrible, grievous procedure they want to inflict on you – wait here."_

"_Jeez, Danny." The injured Navy SEAL snorted, which caused the shorter man to scoff. "As if I can go anywhere in my current condition."_

"_You're a Navy SEAL," the ex-Jersey detective breezily replied, as if was apropos of everything. "you could probably escape from the hospital using only your pinky finger. Blindfolded, even."_

"_Your faith in my abilities is quite high." Steve found himself saying, not sure exactly where any of this was going, but still wanting to continue, nonetheless. "Anyway you never answered my question – _what are you doing here?_"_

"_What does it look like?" Danny retorted as he sat back down, getting ready for the long haul as he crossed his arms in a defensive gesture. "Do you really need me to spell it out for you? If so, I'm really suspecting that you were dropped on the head as a baby or locked in the cupboard during your formative years. That is the only plausible explanation."_

_Feeling irritation bubbling inside, McGarrett moved to sit up a little higher on the bed. "Do you always answer a question with a question? Are you incapable of giving me anything but windy rhetoric? And what is up with your obsession with my childhood – I had a perfectly normal one." There was a furious pounding behind his eyes and he had a killer of a headache, yet strangely, he didn't want to end this conversation. _

"_Touché," Danny replied with a smug little grin that simultaneously irritated and amused the bed-ridden man. "I'm here, waiting for you to wake up, in the hospital. You gave the children quite a scare." The grin died on his lips at Steve's puzzled expression. "Shit, you don't remember?"_

_At McGarrett's blank stare, he scratched the back of his head sheepishly before he cleared his throat. "In short, you got somewhere you shouldn't have and you tried to give me a heart attack. You walked straight into a Triad stronghold and attempted to go Rambo on the seventeen, armed, might I add, men. Congratulations though, you almost did."_

"_Must everything be about you?" The dark haired Navy SEAL asked, feeling a smile twist at his lips as something wordless past between them. It settled in the pit of his stomach, radiating warmth. For the life of him he couldn't identify the emotion and that scared him. He didn't let it show though._

_Making a show of standing up, Danny decided to give McGarrett this round out of the goodness of his heart. Sighing theatrically, a small part of him was glad that despite being a little more worn around the edges, McGarrett was still as much of an insufferable prick as ever. "The universe revolves around me – you're just beginning to discover it." As he moved towards the door, he turned around to fling one final stare at Steve. "You're welcome, by the way. Anytime." With a little wink, he was gone. _

_It was a long time before the injured dark haired man realized that he had shared something very special with his new partner – a treasure of sorts. As a doctor walked into the room, greeting him with a put on cheerful manner, Steve realized that perhaps he wasn't as lonely as he seemed. Danny didn't have to be there, there was no contract obligating him to turn up at his bedside, yet steadfastly – if the things the doctor was grumbling about were indeed true – everyday, until he woke up. _

Steve barely had any time to consider how far this statement had become truth when the sound of the door to the waiting room bursting open snapped him out of his recollection. Moving to stand up, he greeted the specialist as he stepped into the waiting room.


	3. Chapter 3

**AN - Mahalo to all the lovely readers who have reviewed, faved or alerted this story! :)**

In his late forties, Dr. Robert King was one of the Island's most pre-eminent intensivists. He was well acquainted with the physician, who had treated Steve several times during his tenure with Five-0 for the various grievous injuries that required intensive care. He also happened to be the attending physician in the memory that the dark haired man had just remembered.

Feeling a sense of déjà vu overwhelm him, he waited for the doctor to settle down on the plastic chair next to his, shaking his head to clear the last echoes of the doctor's grumbling that time and to regain his focus. As he flicked his eyes to King, the first thing McGarrett noticed was that the doctor was still in his scrubs. The more disturbing thing he noticed was that the edges of the scrubs were lightly stained with pink, which he recognized were minute spatters of blood. Swallowing the acidic bile that rose in his throat, the Naval Commander rushed out, "How is Danno?"

"It's bad, Steve." The doctor answered gruffly as he ripped the cap off his head to run a tired hand through his salt and pepper colored hair. Fixing the taller man with a penetrating stare, King cleared his throat before continuing. "He has third degree burns to 60% of his body. We've had to put him into a medically induced coma and move him to the intensive care burns unit while we treat him."

The physician gave the Navy SEAL some time to digest this information. He watched McGarrett blink a few times, almost in disbelief as he tried to make sense of the information. He felt a pang of sympathy for the dark haired man, but he was nowhere near finished. As Danny's medical proxy, Steve had to be fully informed to give appropriate consent to Danny's treatment. "I'm not telling you this to be harsh, but you need to be aware of the-"

"Yes, I know!" The Lt. Commander answered agitatedly as he rubbed a hand through his hair. He slowly exhaled a breath and repeated in a much calmer voice as he stood up, "I know." If he didn't move, didn't do something, he very well felt like he might go mad.

"-full extent of things." The doctor finished with a sigh. "It goes without saying, Danny's life is going to be very different if he is able to make it through the next couple of days." The announcement over the hospital PA of a code blue in the Emergency OR caused King to stand up and head out of the door at breakneck speed, almost colliding with the anxious dark haired man as he brushed past him. Yet, he took the time to turn and look McGarrett in the eye before adding grimly. "His chances just got slimmer, Commander McGarrett. There is not much more we can do but wait and pray at this stage." With a flutter of his white doctor's coat, he was gone.

Steve stood there, staring at the empty door the doctor had just rushed through for a few moments before he trailed behind King, following him quickly down a crowded corridor before the doctor disappeared behind a set of swinging doors. Peering through the peephole he could see King get changed into a fresh pair of scrubs before disappearing behind another door. Reaching for the door to follow, Steve felt a gentle hand on his shoulder. Spinning around, he spotted the demure little nurse to whom it belonged. She was looking up at him with worried eyes before she shook her head. "I'm sorry, Commander McGarrett," she said before removing her hand. "Only medical personnel past this point." With a gentle yet firm pressure to the small of his back, she guided him back to the waiting room to begin yet another long, arduous wait.

As he sat there, slouched against the wall in one of those ubiquitous plastic chairs his phone began to vibrate. Extracting the thin device from his pants pocket, he swiped the bottom of the screen before raising it to his ear. "McGarrett." His eyes flitted every few seconds to the doorway, a small part of him dreading, yet hoping for the re-appearance of the Intensivist.

"Steve, Chin here." The Five-0 detective greeted. From the background noise filtering across the connection, the Navy SEAL suspected his colleague was somewhere out of Honolulu. "We pushed Charlie hard for a break and we got it, we got it in the worst way possible."

The tidbit of information had the dark haired man jumping up into his feet to head towards the window. "What have you got, Chin?"

The anxiety and desire to know must have been apparent for the Korean man began to explain exactly what he had found out. The news was enough to have McGarrett pummeling the wall in – in _what_, he didn't know yet. "We managed to track down the courier who delivered a parcel to the Palace addressed to Danny this morning. The parcel was from a Mrs. Rachel Edwards. Danny's ex."

The desire to move, to do something had the Lt. Commander pacing in front of the window, ducking in and out of the mid-morning sunshine. It built up to an unbearable pace, until Steve felt like he was going to burst out of his skin – he was buzzing with shock, horror and something like sadness. Why would Rachel do such a thing?

On those afternoons after work when they would lounge around together on Steve's lanai shooting back some refreshingly icy Longboards, their conversations covered everything and anything under the sun – from how the Red Sox are going to get the championships _again_, to the importance of spraying that fucking oil spray onto the tray to stop the damn chicken from sticking. Yet, only when Danny had tossed back a few too many Longboards, when the internal walls around him came crashing down and Steve was left staring at the very real, very vulnerable insecure man in front of him, only then did Danny ever say anything about Rachel.

"_You're lucky you're not married, McGarrett." Danny slurred, a little of the amber liquid sloshing out of the brown bottle onto his hand. In the dying sunlight Steve could see every single line of the crow's feet around his eyes as they wrinkle and a peculiar feeling overwhelmed him. "Sometimes it's better not to form any deep connection with anything, cause like, at the end of it you're always going to get hurt. No matter how good it is in the beginning the pain at the end is always worse than a bitch. It always hurts worse…"_

Sometimes long after the ex-Jersey Native had long gone home and McGarrett was lying alone in bed, staring up at the ceiling as he fought off another bout of insomnia caused by an overactive mind did he think about how well Danny wore the mask of loudmouthed passion and energy to hide the fact that he was in fact very lonely – not to mention feeling extremely out of place. The dark haired man had taken many opportunities to observe the fair haired detective's countenance while doing some field work, questioning potential suspects or talking to the locals and the thing that kept popping back into his mind was how out of place Danny looked, like a fish out of water. He might call Hawaii home, but he had no deeper connection to the place. He was simply _lingering._

"Hello? Steve? You there?" Chin's voice snapped him out of his reverie and he found himself transported back to the horrible present. Shit, what was happening to him? For a moment there his throat felt parched and he could really smell the spicy salty sweetness that was unique to the Islands, to the ocean.

"Yeah," he barked, a little sharper than he wanted but his Korean friend seemed not to notice. "How'd Charlie find this?"

"We've been transporting loads of debris material in the immediate vicinity of the explosion back to the labs to try and get as much info on the explosion as possible. Charlie found a scrap of crushed paper about as big as a quarter, which he was able to confirm came from a mail delivery label. Kono jumped on the phone to call every courier company asking if they had packages sent to the Palace this morning. Only one did – FedEx."

"Good, Chin. Good." McGarrett warmly enthused, pleased at the quick way the break had come across. "Have you got a lead as to who was the driver who delivered the package?"

"Yeah, we're hoping to catch him on his current run to Makapuu. The guy's name's Harry Kaimuki. We checked him out, he looks clean but we're going to talk to him anyway."

"I want to talk to him." The dark haired Commander replied before flicking his eyes to the doorway. "Get him to stop by the-" he was about to say Palace but he realized that there was no way that they would be able to use the Five-0 offices now.

As if sensing his thoughts, Chin stated plainly. "We're sitting in with HPD until we can get temporary offices up and running. Once we get to him, we'll take him back to the station to get a formal statement." There was a pause where the Korean man cleared his throat, before continuing in a markedly more emotional tone. "How is Danny?"

"The doctor said that he's got third degree burns to over 60% of his body and they've had to put him into a coma to stop him from waking up. Beyond that, they don't have much more info for us. There's no point in staying here anymore, Danny looks like he's not going to wake up for a while." His eyes stung with the last part of the sentence and he had to blink away the stinging.

"Yeah. Brah, that's tough." Chin agreed, before the silence across the line became slightly awkward. "Anyway, I got to get back to this, we just spotted Kaimuki's FedEx van. Going for an approach."

"Stay safe." Steve managed to say before his detective hung up and he was left staring blankly at the phone in his hands.

The sounds of gentle footsteps against the worn floor had the Commander spinning around, the tension in his body taut like a string ready to snap. He visibly relaxed when he saw the familiar, comforting sight of Dr King staring back at him. Wordlessly, he gravitated towards the nearest plastic chair, before the physician took the seat next to him. Steve put the phone back into his pocket before fixing his steely gaze onto the grey haired man in front of him. He waited for the doctor to begin.

After an interminably long wait, King finally started talking. "Danny crashed on the cart, it seems that he had an adverse reaction to the strong sedatives we administered to induce the coma. We have lessened the dosage and will monitor his condition closely for the next 24 hours."

"You were able to revive him?" The incredulity in Steve's voice was obvious as his eyes widened. "He's awake now?"

Holding up a hand, King derailed the thought before it could be verbalized. "We managed to establish a fairly normal heart rhythm. We suspect that his heart had been strained due to the heavy and serious trauma caused by his third-degree burns. It was exacerbated by the drugs we gave him to keep him in a medically induced coma. We also don't know whether there has been any permanent brain damage caused by this acute episode of bradycardia. We will assess his condition when he-"

"Take him off them, then!" McGarrett roared, causing two nurses passing by the waiting room to pause and look inside. They were sent away with a wave of the Intensivist's hand. "If he's reacting this badly to them, who knows what else they may do!"

"I afraid we can't, Commander McGarrett," he replied sadly. It was true, what they said about this man's compassion for the injured detective lying in the ICU. It was renown, and now that he was able to witness it firsthand himself, it left no doubts in his mind. "To allow Danny to wake up at this stage would be torture. There wouldn't be a painkiller strong enough to overcome the pain he will feel if we allow him to wake up. The best thing to do is to keep him in a medically induced coma until the burns have managed to heal a bit more. Then we will lessen the sedatives we have given him, wean him off them until he is ready to wake up."

The dark haired man's brow furrowed as he struggled to digest this information. Clearing his throat, he continued in a markedly more normal and less agitated voice. "So when will you be able to wake him up?"

"When we deem that appropriate." The physician replied truthfully as he moved to stand up. "For now, we are keeping him in a sterile recovery room in ICU. Given his compromised state, we have also started him on an IV of broad spectrum antibiotics to prevent infection and we will closely monitor his condition."

"When will you be able to wake him up?" McGarrett pressed more urgently, moving a step closer towards King, emphasizing the differences in their heights. Steve was almost a head taller than the doctor and loomed over him.

"I don't know," was the reply that did absolutely nothing for Steve's frayed nerves. "but I cannot leave my patient for too long. I'm sure you can understand that. Be assured that I will call you immediately if there are any changes to his condition. For now, there is nothing you can do here. Medicine is not a miracle – people don't just miraculously wake up, no matter how much we want them too. Good day, Commander." His smile turned grim and he fixed the taller dark haired man with a meaningful gaze, before he turned on his heel and left the room.

Steve stood there in stunned silence for a few seconds before his faculties came back. Glancing down at his wristwatch, he decided that the doctor was right. His time and energies were wasted standing here, when there were more pressing things to consider. Danny was going to get better but in his own time. Given the things that he had heard from Kono and Chin, it was a small miracle that the former Newark PD cop was still alive. It was only natural that his recovery was going to take a long time. His body needed to heal and there was only so much that medicine could do. Inner strength and the will to live had a lot more to do with it.

"Come on Danno," he found himself murmuring to himself almost as a prayer when he began his egress, stepping outside into the busy hallway. "Fight it…don't give up on me, partner…"


	4. Chapter 4

**AN - Thank you to all the kind readers who have alerted this story and left reviews :)**

"Hey, I jus' deliver 'em. I don't ask questions about who dey come from, nor what's in 'em," Harry Kaimuki rushed out, his eyes flickering back and forth anxiously between the two tall Five-0 officers in front of him. He thought that the Asian one would listen to him but the one on the right – the _haole_ – had a look of crazed animal in his eyes. He made him the most nervous. From the line of tension making his body rigid, the Hawaiian suspected that there was a very thin something that was restraining him, stopping him from ripping into Harry like a lion on the Savannah. "Dis morning at 6am I stopped by da warehouse and picked up my shipment for da day. I figure since I'm closest to da Palace dat I would drop off da Detective's package first."

Chin sighed. Kono had been checking out Kaimuki's statements and so far, they had all been correctly verified as truth – the courier had picked up his load of parcels for the day from the warehouse at Honolulu before starting his run with Danny's parcel. FedEx had even confirmed that there was a parcel addressed to the blonde detective with special delivery instructions. The delivery company was currently checking their online records system for more information about the parcel that was supposedly from Rachel.

They had just been about to release the man when McGarrett swept into the small office that had become the makeshift headquarters for Five-0 at Honolulu HPD, until the Palace could be substantially rebuilt. The Head of Five-0 was furious and had bodily grabbed the diminutive Hawaiian and dragged him down the Palace steps, towards the Interrogation rooms located under the building. Shoving Harry roughly into the metal chair that sat in the middle of the dark, windowless room, the dark haired man kneeled in front of the seated man fixing him with a piercing glare. "Alright," Steve began in a deadly voice, no louder than a whisper. "I want to know everything that there is to know about the bomb blast at the Palace this morning and I want to know it now."

Things had taken off from there. Harry had babbled the same story out again. "Please," he begged when he had finished giving his terrified account of his morning activities, as fear bubbled in his voice and his eyes widened at the prowling predator circling him. "Dat's all I know. I swear on everythin' dat's holy, I don't know anythin' else!"

Chin sensed that Steve was nearing some flash point, nervously flicking his gaze between the seated man and his long-time friend. McGarrett looked like he was one hare's breath away from beating the shit out of the guy. The strain was evident and the fact that the Navy SEAL was continually clenching and unclenching his fists was an ominous portent. "Steve…" he trailed off softly, but it seemed like the dark haired man was beyond reason.

"Bullshit!" McGarrett growled, slamming a fist against the steel table, causing the other two men in the room to flinch. Kaimuki was hiding something, he just _knew _it. "I know you got something that you're hiding from us. Whatever it is, you can be sure that I'm going to get it out of you. Whether you co-operate," he paused to crack his knuckles meaningfully as his kept his weighty gaze on the seated man "is up to you."

"Steve," Chin warned again, a little louder. Jameson did give them full immunity and means to do whatever needed to get done, but that immunity did not extend to beating up an innocent person just because he was highly emotional and was not thinking rationally. It was clear that Danny being in hospital was drawing out a heretofore unseen and – quite frankly – scary side to his friend, but what Steve was doing now was wrong. He was dangerously close to overstepping the line. Chin moved to stand a little closer to the tall, dark haired man, ready for any sort of sudden movement.

Tension sizzled in the air and the anticipation sparked and caught fire when McGarrett bodily launched himself at Harry, attempting to beat the information out of the suspect. Kaimuki screamed and pushed himself as far away as possible from the madman, falling of the chair in his fear.

Chin was barely able to get a hold of Steve's arms as the furious man kicked and shoved, jabbing his friend in the abdomen as he tried to get Chin to let him go. The Korean detective grunted as the breath was knocked out of his lungs but did not let go, instead he used the momentum to push the irate Head of Five-0 against the wall, pinning him to it with ease. He bent Steve's arm high behind him and the painful angle caused the Lt. Commander to cease struggling. A defeated slump appeared in McGarrett's shoulders and Chin was left feeling horribly guilty, sorry for having to do this.

"Dat's one pupule haole!" The Hawaiian shrieked as he stood up gingerly, wincing at the nasty crack of bone that accompanied his movement.

The door to the interrogation room slammed open, bathing them all in warm light as Kono appeared in the doorway. Taking in the sight of McGarrett being restrained against the wall by Chin and the metal chair lying sideways on the floor, her understanding of the situation was confirmed when the suspect raised a finger to point it accusingly at her Boss. "He's da one dat should be locked up!"

Kaimuki's cheeks stained red with anger as he stepped offensively close to Kono. "You can bet I'm gonna report 'dis. You pigs can't do what ya want to da people. You won't get away with 'dis – I won't let ya! I'm gunna file an official complaint against yas." Shoving bodily past Kono, he stepped out of the interrogation room, making for the stairs.

Looking at his retreating back, the rookie cop sighed before turning her gaze to the two men left in the room, crossing her arms. "I dunno how the Governor's going to take this, brah. Seriously I don't. Steve had no right to-"

"Don't Kono, just don't." The weariness was palpable in Chin's voice and he finally let go of the dark haired man, who stepped away from the wall, the veil of shame hanging around him like a thick curtain. "For now, there's not much else we can do except move forward. What's done is done." Turning his attention to his worried friend, he laid a gentle hand on Steve's shoulder. The soft touch caused the Lt. Commander to fix his stare onto his colleague. "Go home, Steve. There's not much more to do here today. Let us take care of it – Kono and me."

He knew that Chin spoke the truth. All of the case files stored in the Five-0 office had been lost and that they would be busy trying to salvage what they could from the remnants of their headquarters. The recovery operation was yet to begin. Still there was one last thing to do, "Not yet, Chin. We still got one last person to see. Come on, let's go."

x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x

McGarrett was horribly disconcerted to discover that upon entering the car park he automatically searched for the familiar sight of the silver Camaro. The absence of the car brought back the horror of what had happened to his closest friend and with a heavy heart that he turned towards the Silverado truck.

The ride over to Kahala was subdued and loathed as he was to admit it, it just felt _wrong _to be driving the truck to interrogate a potential suspect. The mood was solemn as the team exited the car and crossed the footpath to stop in front of the large gate. Pressing the buzzer intercom, the Navy SEAL waited for someone to answer. After a few minutes, Rachel's familiar British accent flowed through the speaker. "Hello?"

"Rachel, it's Steve McGarrett here," he replied. "From Hawaii Five-"

"Yes, I'm very well acquainted with who you are." She cut across succinctly, "What can I do for you?"

"Can we have a word with you?" Chin chimed in, "It's in relation to Danny."

There was a pregnant pause before the gates started to slide open and the team walked up the long, lavish path towards the main door. The air was delicately fragranced with the scent of plumeria and the soft trickling sounds of the water fountain contributed a wonderful sense of tranquility in conjunction with the sounds of the wind rustling through the palm trees. Upon stepping on the landing, the black wooden door opened and Rachel appeared, looking rather bewildered at the appearance of the Five-0 team on her doorstep. "Please come in," she invited,, stepping aside to allow Steve, Kono and Chin access.

Closing the door firmly, the brown haired woman politely ushered them into the living room. "Please sit down. Um, where are my manners? Would you like some tea?" She asked nervously before quickly disappearing into the kitchen, her sudden egress raising questions amongst the members of the Five-0 taskforce.

Kono glanced at her two male colleagues before following Rachel into the kitchen. As soon as the rookie cop stepped across the threshold she silently watched as Rachel busied herself with the tea accoutrements, filling the kettle with fresh water from the tap. The first thing Kono noticed was how badly Danny's ex-wife's hand was shaking. Startled when she heard the Five-0 cop's soft exhale Rachel quickly looked up from her task and Kono, could see that the woman's eyes were bright with unshed tears as Rachel ducked her head back down, allowing her thick brown hair to cascade as a curtain to obscure her face.

"Do you know why we came here to talk to you today, Mrs. Edwards?" Kono ventured softly, looking at Rachel with a gentle, benign expression as she leaned against the doorway.

"Please," she shook her head, her voice growing rough with repressed emotion before she turned her brown gaze onto the young woman in the doorway. Rachel forced a smile. "Call me Rachel. You remind me of Stan's mother when you call me that."

"Do you know why we are here today, Rachel?" The cop pressed on, watching as Rachel retrieved four mugs from the cabinet and then deposit a tea bag in each. She raised an eyebrow when the British woman withdrew a small silver flash from the top shelf of the cupboard and poured at least ¼ of a cup of the amber liquid into the one nearest to her.

"I heard the news." Rachel sobbed, before bracing a hand on the countertop and looking up at the ceiling as she attempted to blink the tears away. She then fixed Kono with a weighty gaze. "On the television. About Danny."

When no addition to her statement was forthcoming and the kettle began to whistle, Kono moved forward and turned off the stove as she turned back to Rachel and suggested softly, "Why don't you go and sit down for a bit? I can take over in here."

With a nod, Rachel exited the kitchen, moving to sit on the ottoman at the end of the chair that the Commander was sitting in. Within moments Kono appeared, balancing four steaming mugs of hot tea and a plate of biscuits on a tray, which she then delicately placed on the glass coffee table. "Thank you," the distressed woman mumbled as she reached for the mug that Kono had seen her put the amber liquid in. While in the kitchen, Kono had verified the liquid to be scotch. Taking a sip, she sighed. "I confess I know why you are here."

"We're here about Danny." Steve confirmed gently as he took her hand in his, before placing the mug on the coffee table as he looked imploringly into her eyes. "Please Rachel, we have some questions we need to ask you."

Nodding enthusiastically, Rachel agreed readily. "I will try to help in any way that I can, although there is not a lot that I can really tell you. I'm afraid I don't know much about his life since we divorced."

"Let's start with the package that you FedEx'ed over to Danny at the Five-0 offices." However, at Rachel's blank expression, Steve faltered. "The package you sent to him, what was in it?"

"I never sent any package of that sort," She insisted, turning to look imploringly at the cousins seated on the lounge suite opposite them. "I… I don't know what you are talking about, I'm sorry."

Chin chose to interrupt the dialogue, bringing about a small sheet of paper from his shirt pocket. The sounds of crinkling paper were like claps of thunder in the otherwise perfect silence. "A parcel sent through FedEx was delivered to the Five-0 offices addressed to Danny, supposedly from you. FedEx confirmed that the package was sent from a Mrs. Rachel Edwards of Kahala." Fixing her with an inscrutable gaze, the Korean detective continued. "Please, Rachel. Can you tell us about this package?"

"I… I honestly don't know anything about this phantom package! I did not send it, I never sent D… Daniel anything of the sort." She whispered, her bottom lip trembling, as she moved to collect the cup of tea and saucer in her hands before taking a delicate sip. McGarrett noted that her hand was badly shaking, causing the china to clatter loudly against each other.

The Lt. Commander sighed. Things were not off to a good start. "You're uh, you're going to have to come down to the station with us. We need to take your statement regarding the package and we have some more questions to ask you."

Shaking her head, she looked at the dark haired man blankly. "What…you think I'm a suspect?"

"Now how did you jump to that conclusion so quickly?" Kono chimed in, but desisted when Steve held up a hand.

"You certainly are a… person of interest to this case. It would certainly help our investigation if you came down to the station to make a formal statement." McGarrett quickly added, defusing the line of tension and hesitance that Rachel had just started to exhibit. "Don't you want to help catch the people who did this to Danny?"

"Of course I do!" Rachel insisted hotly, placing the cup and saucer on the edge of the coffee table before running a hand through her long, brown hair in an irritated manner. Moving to stand up, she turned around and glared defiantly at the people still sitting down. "Now let me get my bag. One of you can come along if you like, just to make sure that I don't bolt out of the back door." She raised an eyebrow, waiting for the answer. When none came, she scoffed and dashed up the stairs, her heels clacking loudly against the tile.

The three remaining members of the Five-0 team turned to cast meaningful looks at each other.

"She's got something to hide, brah. That's not how someone would behave after their ex almost gets killed," Kono concluded quietly, crossing her arms across her chest as she shook her head.

"You're not a psychiatrist, cuz." Chin gently admonished his cousin, causing her to glare at him. "People cope with their grief in different ways. Maybe this is how she copes."

"Yeah, maybe," the tall, dark haired Commander mused, deep in pensive thought. "Anyway, I'd like to see what else she has to say on this subject. We've got to be careful about this." Quick footsteps descending on the stairs again caused him to jump onto his feet. "Let's see how we go."


	5. Chapter 5

**AN - thank you for all the reviews, alerts and faves love! Please remember to comment, I'm always interested in what people think of my work :)**

The panicking Hawaiian paced the small space in front of the large, ornate dark wood desk, occasionally taking a puff of the cigarette he held in a vice like grip between his fingers. Every so often he would glare at the man seated opposite him and mumble a litany of curses under his breath. "Fuckin' haole didn't die – Jesus there was enough explosive in there to wipe out a small town." Once the nervous energy wore off, Harry slumped into a chair before stubbing out his cigarette on the ashtray in front of him.

His companion smiled thinly at him, steepling his fingers together as he replied. "So Williams lived. Big deal. The news reports say that he's been put into a medically induced coma because he's got third-degree burns all over him. He's been burnt, charred almost to a cinder. His Five-0 days are over. What's got you so worried then?"

"Okina, I couldn't give a fucks sake about dat guy – he's pretty much pau! I'm worried about McGarrett, his tall, dark lover boy," Harry hissed through clenched teeth. "It hasn't even been a day and da haole has already linked onto da Rachel Edwards aspect of da plan."

"Knowing that guy," the Japanese man continued smoothly. "An old dog can be taught new tricks. Take away its treats and watch it bend to your will. A human is no different." He stood up from his chair, heading to stand by the window directly behind him as he lifted the edge of the vertical blind. If things went his way, McGarrett was going to be very busy chasing his tail for the next few years with Danny Williams, and that would give him enough time to negotiate a pact with the other organized crime syndicates on the Islands. Five-0 was going to implode on itself and everyone was going to be happy. He was so close to the rank of First Lieutenant he could almost taste it. The Boss was already taking precautionary measures against the snakeheads, making sure that they never stepped out of line again. "Don't worry. The plan will fall through as we discussed."

"You think dat she's gonna continue ta cooperate with us once da heat comes down? I never trusted those Poms." Harry spoke, clearly worried at the prospect that Rachel was going to betray them. "I dunno much about da law but from what Mickey said-"

"She can get away with claiming duress and that we forced her to obstruct the course of justice, aid and abet… any one of those. She may, but is Stan willing to? Either way, her hands will be dirty. She has to make a choice – lose one or lose the other."

"You seem so confident dat she's gonna chose Stan over Danny." The smaller man mumbled around a cigarette as he fished inside his pants pocket for a lighter. Lighting up, he sighed in contentment as the acrid tobacco seared his lungs. "You gonna share why dat's so?"

There was a long pause while Hiroyuki contemplated the answer to the innocuous question. The power he held over Stan Edwards was complete and to disclose the secrets that tied the two men together would be paramount to catastrophe. He knew that Rachel knew about the terrible secret as well and that as an ordinary person, she was going to do everything and anything in her power to hide it. The things he could let slip, they would destroy everything for Stan and his family. "For now, content yourself with knowing that we have the knowledge to ensure their cooperation. Keep calm, Harry. Five-0 are going to try some very unethical and nasty scare tactics to get you to cooperate – just ignore them, go about your business as normal. They will have to give up after a while."

Interpreting Okina's final sentence as a dismissal, Kaimuki climbed out of the chair he was in before he walked to the door. Just before his egress was complete, he turned to look over his shoulder. "I hope ya know what ya doin', brah. McGarrett's got them crazy eyes. I've heard stories of how he's gone nuts when it comes to dat haole of his. Be careful." He sighed as the Japanese man stared blankly back and exited the room.

x-x-x-x-x-x-x

It got under his skin, sank into every nerve, so much so until Steve thought he was going to go mad with it. He acutely felt every second wasted as Danny moved further and further away from him.

He then deduced that perhaps the package was placed into circulation by someone within the organization and so the long and laborious process of checking every entry point in the distribution chain began. Frustration burned white hot – the further they went into the investigation, the more elusive the truth became. Chin and Kono bent over backwards to try and question every single person in the distribution chain who could have planted the package into the system. They pulled long hours making Danny's case first priority while juggling all of the cases that got passed their way from HPD or at the special request of the Governor. It was hard but doable.

Things gradually went from bad to worse. The Five-0 team had questioned every single person in the FedEx delivery chain – including the contractors seldom used by the courier company to go various areas on the islands when the normal couriers were unavailable – and had a whole cabinet full of sworn statements and affidavits but no answers.

Things went from worse to horrible for Rachel. Against McGarrett's will, she became the number one suspect in their case. From security footage taken at one of the posting facilities on the islands, they could see Rachel handing the parcel to the person behind the counter. After some very savvy computer work from Chin, they were able to read the address label on the package which was addressed to none other than Danny. To the tall dark haired man, it made no-sense. Why would Rachel want to use a bomb against Danny? From what he had seen, the former husband and wife had come to terms with one another, a sort of truce for the sake of their daughter. He knew that people often were motivated by reason, hence the seeming lack of one greatly disturbed him.

He knew that his partner would not have wanted Rachel to get arrested – he might have joked about it but it was never serious – because if she did then Gracie would get shipped off to foster care and that was the last thing that Danny would have wanted. A family already torn apart was better than a family completely destroyed. Yet, his hands were tied – he had enough evidence to bring Rachel into custody, which he had tried to delay for as long as possible.

However, it could not be put off forever. The time for Rachel's arrest came six weeks after the explosion at the Palace. It was a bright, cold morning and there was an usually cold wind blowing across the islands. It was barely 7am in the morning when the Five-0 team and a select number of HPD officers knocked on her front door, which she opened, still dressed in an elegant silk robe outside of her nightclothes. As soon as she saw the grim expressions of all the people in front of her, her expression turned to one of sorrow. "Please," she begged. "Don't do this. I had nothing to do with it, I swear."

As Chin began to read her the Miranda, the British woman began to cry, trying her best to stem the tears as the Lt. Commander moved to handcuff her and gently lead her to the awaiting blue and white HPD sedan. While they were walking down the long winding driveway to the car, he leaned close enough and attempted to whisper a soft apology for failing both her and Danny but a lump had formed in his throat and the moment passed. They shared a long look after he slammed the door shut. Kono jumped into the back with her, Duke started the engine, he could only watch as the HPD vehicle rolled away from him before disappearing from view completely. He stood there for a while longer before turning on his heel and rapidly crossing the long driveway, heading back towards the main house. He entered the house and looked up the stairs to see a sleepy Gracie rubbing her left eye with her hand, the very same stuffed dolphin that she had picked out on a trip to watch the dolphins with Steve and Danny a few months ago. She was still in her pajamas. His heart ached at what he was about to do and all the sadness that he was about to cause. She eventually caught sight of him at the bottom of the stairs and the sleepiness faded quickly to be replaced with a bright exuberance.

"Uncle Steve!" She beamed as she rushed down the stairs before she tackled him in a hug. Letting go, she directed her gaze at him. "Why are you here? Is Danno with you?"

He should have seen it coming but the innocuous question left him winded. "Danno is still in hospital."

The brightness of her smile dimmed a little bit but her voice was still cheerful when she pressed on. "Are we going to visit him then? Mom says on schooldays I can't go anywhere but if it's to visit Danno it should be okay. Let me check with – hey, where's Mom?"

"Mommy's had to go away for a little while… Where is Step-Stan?" McGarrett hesitated on telling Grace anymore and his voice grew a little rough at the mention of Stan's name.

"He's on a business trip to Sweden, he should be coming back in 2 weeks." Danny's little girl peered around Steve to see the Chin standing there, talking to a severe looking woman with horn-rimmed glasses. She could also see the police officers milling around on the grass at the front. She frowned. "Is Mom in trouble?"

"She is," Steve stated flatly.

"For what happened to Danno, right? She was sad when she heard that he was in hospital." Grace responded with a sense of wisdom well beyond her years. The emotion in her voice was so much like her father's that his breath hitched at the painful remembrance. "Mom is still sad about it," the young girl added. "Mom would never hurt Danno."

Her acuity surprised the Navy SEAL. "How do you know this?" He asked softly.

"Because she still loves him and he still loves her. They might not be together, but they still love each other, even though they sometimes fight and yell. You only yell when you really care."

Left speechless, they were disturbed when the woman with the horn-rimmed glasses came forward. Grace chose to hide, ducking behind Steve as he turned to address the woman from Child Protection Services. "Steve McGarrett, Five-0," he nodded as he extended a hand.

"Melinda Roberts, Child Protection Services," she replied with a firm handshake. "I am here regarding Grace Williams. From now on she is no longer under the care of Mr. and Mrs. Stan Edwards – she is now a ward of the state. I have the relevant papers right here."

Frowning, the Lt. Commander took the said documents into his hands to read. He noticed that they were still warm from being freshly printed out this morning. Concern crept up higher when he read that Gracie was going to be placed into foster care. This wasn't supposed to happen – she was going to go and stay with Kono's mother until Danny woke up. The aged Hawaiian woman was delighted at the prospect. "Five-0 is taking over jurisdiction and complete control of this investigation. Grace Williams will placed in the custody of whoever we deem fit." He had lost the battle but it was worth a try.

"Commander McGarrett, you will have to appear before a judge and explain the circumstances of the case to revoke that court order. Until then, Miss Williams is to come with me." Melinda replied frostily, pushing her glasses higher up the bridge of her nose as she cleared her throat.

"Give me a sec," he replied quickly, before he turned around and bent down, looking eye-to-eye with the scared little girl. "Gracie…"

"I don't want to go with that lady," Grace admitted in a small, defeated voice. Her bottom lip wobbled and he felt like such a monster for not being able to respect her wishes. He felt like he was letting Danny down in the worst possible way – the blonde detective would have fought it tooth and nail.

"You have to," Steve smiled. It was an empty one, and it was wrong but he had to appear strong for Gracie. She had enough problems already and he didn't want to add a 'sad Uncle Steve' one to the mix. He moved to give her a big hug. "I promise that it won't be for long. We will come to get you as soon as we can. We promise," he repeated as they separated. "Wait for us." He felt something break inside of him when he saw the two fresh tear tracks sliding down the sides of her face. Bringing a hand up to wipe the wetness away, he tried to be strong for her as he caught her eyes. "Remember, Danno and Steve love you."

Her eyes were bright with unshed tears and the sadness in her countenance was disturbing. Wordlessly, she allowed Melinda to seize her hand and begin to gently lead her away. Gracie tried to keep her eyes on Steve as long as she could but as soon as the woman began to say things to her in what he assumed was a gentle voice –but it sounded forced and unnatural– the little girl's attention turned to the woman who was speaking to her and together they walked out of the house and disappeared from his sight. He was left standing there as disappointment and crushing resignation twisted knots inside him until he realized that there were still things to be done, that the world was not going to stop just because one family had literally unraveled in front of him. A crowd of people began to enter the main hallway in a single file. Steve then recognized them as the forensics team. He took charge of the process, personally overseeing the gathering of evidence and barking out instructions with a confidence that he didn't feel as he began to contemplate the grounds on which he could appeal that court order. It seemed like he might have to go and talk to the District Attorney.


	6. Chapter 6

**Hello everyone, thank you for all of the PMs telling me to get my butt into gear and have the next chapter ready! It was also the proverbial kick in the behind to get over this cold. As usual, love and hugs to all my wonderful readers, and my awesome beta traw!**

Peering along the crowded corridor of the hospital, the nurse turned her attention from the elevator to the door which led to the Intensive Care Unit and the Burns Units. She let her eyes linger on the clock, which would tick over to the afternoon in a few seconds. "Oh, he should be here any minute."

Her companion turned to give her a 'cease or desist' look as she hung up the phone. Today was another hectic day at Queen's Hospital and all she could do was daydream about that rather fetching tall dark haired man who came like clockwork at 12pm to visit the blonde detective in the Burns Unit. Sighing, she admonished. "Pamela, can you just please, please focus on work for a bit-"

"There he is," she whispered, tucking the stray hairs behind her ears and she literally bounced in her seat with excitement. It took a lot of effort for Eve not to roll her eyes at this immature behavior. Soon, a long shadow was cast over them as the handsome Lt. Commander of the Five-0 task force approached the nurse's station where they were.

"Good afternoon Nurse Stewart, Nurse Launakea," he greeted cordially as he flashed a charming smile at them. "I'm here to see-"

"Please," Pamela said in a voice barely containing her giggles. "It's just Pam."

"Pam then," he smiled and she could have melted at the way his eyes lingered on her, could have melted to the floor in a puddle under the million watt smile lighting up his face. "call me Steve."

Cringing internally from Pamela's embarrassing behavior, Nurse Stewart rescued the situation with a soft smile. "Call me Justine, please go through."

He thanked them both before they saw him carry his mug of coffee, a large brown paper bag with what they presumed was food and a newspaper tucked under his arm down the corridor towards the Burns Unit.

As soon as he disappeared Pam turned to face Justine. "It's cute the way he comes up here every day, rain, hail or shine like clockwork to see Detective Williams. Wonder what they talk about?"

Justine sighed, pinching the bridge of her nose in a vain attempt to stave off the impending migraine. Cursing the fact that she was stuck with this idiot all day, she replied in a forced calm tone. "Detective Williams is still in a medically induced coma. There is not much to talk about."

"I read in some journals that people in comas might not be conscious but they can still hear everything that happens around them," Launakea shrugged as she pulled the stack of client files towards her to begin sorting them. "The company helps."

The phone rang and Justine picked it up, "Fourth floor ICU, Nurse Stewart speaking." From that point all thoughts of Steve and Danny were driven out of her head as she began to scramble to organize gurneys, doctors and support staff for the ambulance heading here directly following a horrible car crash on the Lunalilo Freeway.

x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x

"I understand your frustration, Steve." John Manicote, District Attorney emphasized behind the dark koa wood desk. "But the evidence against Rachel Edwards is enough to keep her in remand until her arraignment."

"Can't you just post bail for her? Can't you do anything to get her out of there?" Steve retorted, fuming in the comfortable chair in front of the District Attorney, who merely raised an eyebrow. "Can't you use, like, guilty until proven innocent or something?"

This was certainly a very strange request – people usually badgered him to get people _behind_ bars, rather than take them _out_. The lawyer sighed as he rubbed his jaw in deep thought on just how to explain the concept of due process to the Navy SEAL. If Danny couldn't, then there was no hope for him. "Again, the evidence against her is compelling." Using his hands, he started to tick off all the damning information they had against Danny's ex-wife. "She posted the package containing the bomb. We have surveillance footage of her posting the parcel and her signature on the docket that she gave to the clerk before the parcel was handed over to FedEx. Stanley Edwards, her current husband, is a building contractor who has ready access to the type of explosive that was used in the blast. It looks bad against her. You want her out, show me proof. Show me proof that she didn't send the package."

McGarrett's brow furrowed deep in thought has he thumbed his bottom lip, trying to think of an answer. From where he stood, Rachel certainly looked very guilty – most of the evidence was indeed against her. But his gut was telling him that they were missing a very large part of the picture. There was still something to be discovered. His instincts were telling him that she was innocent. He would run with that and see where that would lead them. Finally, an idea occurred to him. "What if I was able to prove that the parcels were switched or that the woman on the surveillance footage was not Rachel Edwards?"

John cleared his throat before sinking further in his chair. Adamant was one thing but this was ridiculous. "Steve," he said gently, "The woman at the counter when she sent the parcel made a positive ID on Rachel when she had to pick her out of a police lineup. The parcel-"

"We can't do much with what's left of the parcel!" The Lt. Commander growled before jumping out of his seat to pace the small space in front of the desk, alternatively glaring at the still seated man. "We've run every test on what remains of it and they don't tell us much!"

"Show me irrefutable proof, then!" Manicote roared, slamming a fist on the table. "Show me that someone else sent the package. Show me that the ID on Rachel was wrong. Show me proof that Rachel was nowhere near the location the package was sent. Show me that there is no missing explosive from her husband's construction site-" He stopped abruptly when the Navy SEAL headed for the door without a word. "What, where are you going? We have the witness statements on the Molokai killings-"

"Mahalo," Steve replied as he grabbed the doorknob, twisted it to open the door. He flashed the seated legal practitioner a determined look. "That's what I'm going to do, I'm going to show you that Stan had a full inventory of explosives at the demolition site and that Rachel didn't buy any from the black market. I'm going to show you that Rachel is innocent. I'll send Chin over to go through the statements with you."

"Remember, Steve, you're in a race against time," John reminded him just before McGarrett completed his egress. "Rachel's arraignment is in three days time. The Governor wants this case to be closed as soon as possible."

With a nod and a determined set to his shoulders, the Navy SEAL was gone.

x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x

The physician smiled a smile of pleasure when he re-checked his patient's vitals. After a few initial scares his patient was responding phenomenally well to the treatments. The course of strong, broad spectrum antibiotics they had given to the detective were helping to prevent infection as the skin grafts healed. He couldn't help but feel for Danny as the cop laid there on the bed, almost none of his skin visible underneath the thick cover of bandages that covered the skin grafts.

Peering down at Danny William's chart, he checked the stats for the past month and a bit – Danny was getting stronger and they were slowly weaning him off the strong sedative that kept him in this coma. He was well enough to be moved out of a sterile room to a normal room in the ICU and didn't require as close monitoring as he did when he was admitted.

Dr King took a moment to savor the silence which he knew was not going to last very long. He had promised that partner of Williams that as soon as the injured man was well enough to be taken out of this coma, that McGarrett was going to be the first person he would call. That time had come now and he replaced the chart on the table at the foot of the bed before he stepped out of the ICU. Walking along the corridor to the nearest nurse's station, he reached over the side and picked up the handset, dialing Steve's personal mobile number that he ensured he kept with him at all times.

x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x

McGarrett barely hung up the phone before he threw it into the cup holder and putting on his siren to coast along the large, spacious roads that would lead him to Queen's Hospital. Chin was still stuck in the afternoon meeting with Manicote that he had managed to shirk and Kono would be coming straight over once she finished her visit to Diamond Bay, the new property development on Waikiki that Stan was currently overseeing.

Pulling the Silverado truck to a rocking stop in front of the main entrance, the dark haired Lt. Commander sprinted up the front steps, barreling past people in a blur of frantic, anxious excitement. Danno was going to wake up! There were no words to describe the joy that flooded him at the prospect of seeing Danny up and about again, have him back within the realm of the living. The past six weeks had been hellish on all of them and in those six weeks he had come to a startling realization – Danny was more than his partner. Danny was the yin to his yang, the calming force that tampered down on his zealous exuberance. More than once over the past few weeks – especially in the beginning – had he gotten a bit short with Chin and Kono. They were all under an almost unbearable amount of strain and the cousins didn't need Steve adding more fuel to the fire, so to speak.

He came to realize that Danny was more of a calming influence than anything, helping to siphon off the excess energy and ameliorate the harshness of his character. On the best of days he barked orders with a military-esque sense of no-nonsense and on the worst of days he was a pent up ball of frustration with a hair trigger temper. On those days he didn't blame Chin and Kono for trying to avoid him, letting him work off the anger and whatever else feelings that may be causing his ire. For the first few weeks after the explosion, while reassessing what had changed and where this frustration was coming from, as he was running along the scenic sidewalks where the mountains sloped downwards to spread their bases along the pristine waters as the palm trees waved lazily in the warm salty breeze did he realize that Danny was the missing element to the equation. The hard truth slammed into him, leaving him feeling more winded than as if he had trekked up the side of a mountain. He slowed his pace to a walk as he caught his breath and tried to make further sense of Danny's part in his life.

Snapping his thoughts back to the present, he made a beeline for the normal hospital room Danno had been moved over to in the past week. It certainly made visiting his partner much more convenient. There was a spring in his step as he crossed the entrance to the room to see two nurses and Dr King standing there waiting for him. With a grin and a nod he acknowledged the medical personnel, coming to pause by the side of Danny's bed to rest his hands against the guardrail as he smiled fondly at the comatose man.

"Steve," the physician said. "We are going to let him wake up now. His burns have sufficiently healed but they are nowhere near fully healed. We need to assess if there has been any long-term mental effects from the explosion. The nurses have been slowly decreasing the amount of sedative Detective Williams has been receiving. He should be showing signs of waking soon. In the meanwhile, may I have a word with you?"

"Yeah, sure." McGarrett agreed, allowing himself to be lead outside of the room out into the corridor. Leaning against the wall, the Navy SEAL crossed his arms, waiting for Dr King to begin.

With a sigh, the doctor finally did. "I want to check with you about something very important. I know you have agreed to look after Danny-"

"Yes Robert, and I will-" McGarrett started, only to pause when the Intensivist held up a hand.

"Please, let me finish," Robert preempted, waiting for the Lt Commander to stop. With another long-suffering sigh, he ran a hand through his hair before continuing. "Danny is going to need full time hospital care for the first few weeks as he finds his feet again. He's also going to need extensive physiotherapy to help with movement. It goes without saying that he is in no condition to return to work," King ticked off the various factors that had to be taken into account, saving the best for last. "He will still be in tremendous pain from the burns, we will give him a prescription for some painkillers to help take the edge off the worst of it. At this stage we do not know what the psychological effects of the explosion on Danny's mental health are."

"So you're saying that he might feel depressed, is that it?" Steve pressed, focusing his hazel gaze on the physician in front of him.

"Yes and no. There's more to it than that. We don't know yet, until he wakes up and we can assess. Danny will need some counseling, especially in the beginning to help him to come to terms with what has happened. It's up to him whether he will accept it or not."

"Danny's made of sterner stuff then we give him credit for, He's going to get through this and it's going to be okay." McGarrett soothed fondly, making no attempt to stem the tide of warm feelings that surfaced as his face broke into a smile. "Doc, It is going to be okay. Danno has the finest care that this rock can give him. I'm confident that everything will turn out alright." Without missing a beat, the tall, dark haired man moved to re-enter the room, leaving King no opportunity to try and talk some sense into the stubborn man.

As he followed McGarrett back inside, it was on the tip of his tongue to warn the Lt Commander that he was wrong, and that in cases like these the recovery process was a long and arduous thing, something that tested the bonds of friendship by stretching them to the far ends of the universe. Some friendships became strengthened but more often than not he had seen them torn to shreds by people's inability to understand or to be compassionate. For some unknown reason he wanted to smite the optimism off the dark haired man's face, but couldn't bring himself to.

Against the odds, he found himself thinking that there was a chance that Danny was going to be okay, and that perhaps Steve – despite all the indicators that this was not going to work – would somehow find a way to make it work. It might have been the way the Navy SEAL canted his head, watching his bed-ridden partner with a tender fondness as he moved a hand to gently stroke the detective's heavily bandaged arm.

"Let's get this show on the road then," the doctor said after an interminably long pause, as he walked over to the other side of Danny's bed and began the procedure that would bring the detective back to the realm of the living.

Just then, Steve's phone buzzed. Extracting it from his pocket, he peered down at the screen to identify the caller before answering, "Hey Chin." His friend's words made his blood run cold and his heart stop in his chest. He couldn't hear for the blood rushing in his ears. The Navy SEAL tried not to let his imagination get the worst of him – he had to remain calm. Despite this, he couldn't help but think of Danny. _How the heck was he going to react to this?_

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